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Food Insecurity/Insufficiency and Overweight in Children <5 Years
Author(s) -
MetallinosKatsaras Elizabeth S.,
Sherry Bettylou,
Kallio Jan
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1004-b
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , demography , percentile , odds , logistic regression , ethnic group , odds ratio , obesity , nutrition transition , environmental health , pediatrics , statistics , mathematics , sociology , anthropology
This study examines the relationship between overweight and 1) household food insecurity (HFI) with/without hunger, and 2) food insufficiency in low‐income children participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Data on 8,493 children with weight and height and HFI/insufficiency measured within 60 days of each other were analyzed by age and sex groupings, using logistic regression to model the odds of being overweight (weight‐for‐length or BMI ≥95 th percentile for those < 2 and ≥ 2 years, respectively) given HFI/insufficiency status, controlling for race/ethnicity and maternal education. The prevalence of HFI without hunger was 22.4%, with hunger, 8.3%, and overweight, 18.4%. Among girls <2 yr, HFI was associated with a reduced odds of being overweight compared to those from food secure households (OR=0.65, 95% CI=0.48–0.96); hunger status did not alter this association. Among 2–5 year old girls, there was no overall significant association between HFI and overweight, however HFI with hunger was positively associated with overweight compared with those from food secure households (OR=1.49, 95% CI=1.06–2.10). No association was found among boys in either model. There were no significant interactions between race/ethnicity and HFI for boys or girls. No association was found between food insufficiency and overweight. In conclusion, only HFI was associated with risk of overweight among girls with associations differing by age, and depended on hunger status.